a Light from Beyond
by Briallyn
Summary: Alone on his birthday, Bakura makes a wish. The Spirit, as payment for his 'rent,' decides to grant Bakura's wish and brings back Bakura's sister for a short visit.
1. Chapter 1

A quick note to all people who haven't read the manga: In this story, the concept of "rent" is brought up. In manga book 6, when Bakura is first introduced to the Spirit living in him, the Spirit tells him that as payment (or, "rent" as he calls it) for living within Bakura's body, he grants Bakura's wishes. Bakura never realized that the Spirit was doing this. Also, the Spirit has a way of twisting the wishes:in the manga, Bakura had wished (without realizing there was an evil Spirit within him who would grant it)to be able to play games with his friends forever. To grant this, the Spirit sealed all his friends' souls into lead figurines, so they'd be part of his games always.

a Light from Beyond:

a Wish in the Dark

Bakura sat in his armchair, staring off into space. Alone. He was used to the silence by now. It had been years since he had lived with anyone. He was always alone, and he was accustomed to it. But on nights like this, the empty space of the apartment seemed cold and harsh. He only a had a few projects to work on, which he knew he should work on, considering how quiet evenings to himself like this were rare. However, he had been working since he had left school, and he felt he needed a break.

With a sigh, Bakura picked up the newspaper and scanned the headlines. He did not normally read the paper; his own life was depressing enough, without his reading about the disheartening troubles happening around the globe.

"Surely something good has to be happening somewhere," Bakura muttered under his breath as he flipped through the paper, looking for the elusive uplifting article. "Or not…"

Bakura set the paper back on the table beside the chair. As he stood, his eyes were drawn to the date in the top corner of the paper: 2 September. Bakura blinked, looked at the date again. It had not changed.

"That's right…" Bakura mumbled to himself, "Today's my birthday." None of his friends had remembered; they never did. This time, he did not think badly of them; how could he blame them for forgetting his birthday if he barely bothered to recall it himself anymore?

Bakura brightened suddenly, as he said aloud to himself, "It's my birthday! Maybe Dad'll come home; he used to always come home on my birthday." He glanced over at the clock; his face fell. It was close to seven, and it was dark already.

Bakura looked toward the door of his apartment, almost expectantly, for two whole minutes. Sighing, Bakura admitted to himself, "Dad won't be home today. He hasn't come home for years; he's too busy with his museum affairs." _He hasn't been home to see me since the birthday he gave me the Millenium Ring…_ Bakura trudged back to his room, where his desk, littered with paper and assignments, awaited his return. "Forgotten and alone on my birthday…as always."

He chewed on the end of his pen, wondering what to say.

With a sigh, Bakura pushed his paper away and pulled over a sheet of looseleaf and started writing.

\

_Dear Amane,_

_How are you and mom doing? Your brother is doing fine._

_School was uneventful today. There are a lot of projects I'm supposed to be getting done, but I'm writing to you instead. Nothing much happened at school, besides homework. The gang went over to Yugi's after school, as usual, but I didn't feel like tagging along today._

_Today was my seventeenth birthday. But no one remembered. I didn't even realize what day it was until I glanced at the newspaper date. I'm still alone in my apartment; Dad hasn't written yet. I haven't heard from him in a while._

_I miss you all, but you most of all, Amane. I hope you had a great day. Maybe you can come see me sometime._

_Sincerely,_

_Ryou_

\

Bakura put down his pen and carefully moved the paper aside. Grabbing his project paper from his homework pile, he began staring at the blank page once more.

An hour came and went at a slow, dragging crawl.

Bakura skimmed over the words he had written so far. In one hour, he had managed to force out one paragraph. One.

"At this rate, I'll never be finished," Bakura grumbled, "and this one's due tomorrow." He yawned, stretching, and glanced at the clock: eight ten. "Time yet to write another paragraph at least." He settled into his chair and picked his pen back up.

His gaze left his paper, settling on the picture of his sister. She smiled at him happily from within her frame, her eyes bright and filled with an innocent light. The sunlight reflected on her hair, making the impression of a halo encircling her head. His mind wandered, strolling easily down a path taking the opposite direction of his paper.

Wrenching his gaze away, he looked down at his paper. Still one lonely paragraph on the mountain of white. Bakura attempted to focus on what he was trying to say, but it was impossible. His eyes kept returning to the picture on his desk.

With a sigh, he dropped his pen back onto the desk and stood up. Yawning, he pushed in his chair and moved over to his dresser.

Mechanically, he switched into his pajamas, then went into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

He stood in front of his desk, looking at the unfinished paper; he assured himself, "There's no point in keeping myself up, staring at an almost-blank page. I'll go to bed now, and finish it in the morning, before school. I work better in the morning anyway."

His eyes returned to Amane's smiling face. He smiled slightly, almost nervously, back at her and reached forward to turn off the lamp.

The apartment settled into shadows, embracing the night. A few gentle shafts of moonlight crept in from the window, tenderly illuminating the star-designed blanket on Bakura's bed in silvery light.

Bakura pulled back the covers and climbed into bed, the moonbeams lovingly adding a final layer to the blankets covering the white haired boy.

Before he shut his eyes to sleep, Bakura whispered into the darkness of the apartment, "Goodnight, Amane. Wherever you are."

His eyes closed and his mind conjured an old memory of Amane, watching her run through the yard behind their old house. He remembered it as well as if it were yesterday. Amane had been gathering "flowers," or at least, what she considered flowers. To any adult, they were weeds. There were the little white Clover flowers, and the purple Clover flowers, the yellow Dandelions, purple Johnny Jump-ups, and various other plants that grew with colorful petals that Bakura could not name, though Amane knew the name of every one.

She had run, laughing around the yard, stopping only to stoop and tenderly pick a flower, apologizing to the flower all the while, then dashing off to another clump. Her hands fiercely gripping her sizable bouquet, Amane had dashed over to Bakura and sat next to him on the back step, deftly twisting the flowers into crowns and necklaces.

At her insistence, Bakura had tried to make something with the flowers for her, as she showed him how to twine the stems. Once he finished, much to his dismay, as he held it up to show it to her, it had fallen apart.

"I-I'm sorry, Amane. I guess I did it incorrectly," Bakura had said, trying to quickly retrieve the fallen pieces.

Laughing happily, Amane had taken the pieces from him and carefully fixed the gaps and placing the string around her neck as she said, "It's okay, Ryou." She had picked up her purple-and-white Clover crown and put it in Bakura's hair, saying, "I'll make sure you'll never need a flower crown. Whenever you need one, I'll make one for you."

"Thank you, Amane."

Amane had smiled at him, allowing the remaining flowers to cascade over the steps in a waterfall of petals. She had wrapped her arms around him as she leaned on him and she said, "Whatever you can't do, Ryou, I'll do. And whatever I can't, you will, right?"

Bakura had smiled, "Sure, Amane." He hugged her back, running his fingers through her hair.

"That way, together, we'll be able to do anything," she had whispered as she settled contented against him, her eyes closed.

Bakura opened his eyes again and stared into the darkness of his apartment. The rosy glow and warmth of the memory faded slowly. He shut his eyes again, this time seeing only darkness. A small tear leaked out of the corner of his eye.

"Amane…" he whispered. He fought against the tears as he said quietly, "I wish I could see her…"


	2. Chapter 2

a Light from Beyond:

a Persistent Wish, a Debt is Due

_"I wish I could see her," _his host's voice echoed in the dark emptiness of the Ring.

"Who cares?" the Spirit demanded aloud to himself.

The echoes returned insistently,_ "I wish I could see her."_

"My rent's come due, has it?" The Spirit grumbled under his breath, "Why this one? Why doesn't anything else he wishes for nag me?"

"_I wish I could see her."_

"I got it, all right?" the Spirit shouted in annoyance. "I'm not required to grant his every wish!"

"_I wish I could see her."_

"Do you have any idea how much power that would take?" the Spirit shouted back.

"_I wish I could see her."_

"No, I didn't think so. He never cares. He must think I'm some sort of djinni."

"_I wish I could see her."_

"I hate consciences," the Spirit grumbled under his breath. "Why should I care if my host's crying himself to sleep? He's weak; it isn't _that_ unusual of an occurrence."

"_I wish I could see her."_

"Yeah, yeah…" the Spirit grumbled. "Just shut up!"

"_I wish I could see her."_

The Spirit tried to ignore the heartfelt plea.

"_I wish I could see her."_

The Spirit could hear the despair in his host's voice, the loneliness, the yearning, the heartbreak, the hopelessness.

"_I wish I could see her."_

"_I wish I could see her."_

"Grow up, host. She's dead, not just moved away. She can't come back. You're alone."

"_I wish I could see her."_

"_I wish I could see her."_

"_I wish I could see her."_

The Spirit muttered, "Fine. Obviously I can't ignore him." He stood and glared out, thinking. Finally, he said, "It's my host's birthday today, isn't it? And no one said anything to him, and he feels forgotten. Now, now…can't have my host feeling neglected, can I?" He took in a breath and began to gather his Shadow magic. "Happy birthday, Bakura Ryou. But make no mistake. This is _not_ a present, this is my rent. And considering that the drain from using this much magic in one go will practically destroy me, I'll be forced to do nothing for a while afterward. You'd better appreciate this, host," he threatened.

Of course, Bakura did not hear him; his host was safe in the refuge of sleep.

"Well, I think this'll cover my rent for quite a while…" The Spirit concentrated harder on gathering every last shred of Shadow power he could call on. The magic crackled at his fingertips, sparking and sizzling, impatient to be put to use. "I guess I should get started."

"_I wish I could see her."_

The Spirit disappeared.

"_I wish I could see her…"_

_\\\_

"Ryou," a voice said. A small hand shook his shoulder and insisted, "C'mon, silly, wake up."

Bakura groaned and opened his eyes slowly, blinking quickly, and shielding his eyes with one hand from the light filling his room.

He rubbed his eyes, mumbling to himself, "What time is it?"

"Eleven thirty," the voice informed him cheerily.

"Why am I awake?" Bakura asked himself as he sat up, his fogged mind still not fully comprehending the voice that continued to speak to him.

"Because I woke you up, sleepy-head!" the voice declared. Giggling, it added, "You certainly weren't going to wake up on your own."

Bakura finally managed to open his eyes and keep them open. He saw the figure standing by his bed and blinked again.

Smiling at him, the girl teased, "Don't you wanna see me anymore, Ryou?"

Bakura looked at the girl in amazement; finally he asked, almost afraid of hearing a 'no,' "Amane?"

Amane smiled at him as she answered, "Yup!" She jumped up onto the bed, sitting beside him and taking his hand. Looking down at the very different sizes she mock-pouted, "You're growing up without me."

Bakura looked at her as he answered, "You're still exactly how I remember. You haven't aged a day."

She looked over at him and gave him a huge smile, "Of course not." She reached behind her and pulled out a flower crown, made of purple and white Clover flowers and happily settled it into his hair. She hugged him as she said, "Happy birthday, Ryou."

"Thank you," Bakura managed, nervous that at any minute, she would disappear back into dreams.

"Seventeen already? Time sure passes quickly…and you're getting so big." She finally released him. "Oh yeah. And Mom says happy birthday, too. She would've come, too, but the mean guy who opened the gate for me said only I could go."

"What mean guy, Amane?" Bakura asked.

"The white-haired guy who came to get me. He was rude, and he seemed mad at somebody. It scared me, Ryou, because…when I first saw him, I almost thought he was you…"

Bakura paled, finding it impossible for him to speak.

"But he's nothing like you. He was real grumpy and kept muttering to himself about weird stuff like wishes, rent, and inconsiderate hosts." She looked up into Bakura's face and confided quietly, "I almost didn't come, because he scared me. He was just so mean! But he explained that he was taking me to see you, so I went with him. But he wouldn't let Mom come. She was sad, but let me go. She sends all her love, Ryou."

Bakura swallowed around the large lump in his throat, "Tell-tell her I love her, too."

Amane giggled, "You're so silly, Ryou. I don't need to tell her that. She already knows that. Besides, you just told her yourself."

"I-I did?"

"Yup! Whenever you wanna tell us anything, just say it, and we'll hear you. We're always listening."

"Oh," Bakura said quietly. A tear leaked out of the corner of his eye.

Amane reached up and wiped it away gently as she asked, "What's wrong, big brother? Why are you sad?"

Bakura wiped his eyes quickly as he answered, "Nothing. I'm not sad, Amane."

"Then why are you crying?"

"Because I'm happy," he answered quietly, hugging her tightly.

Amane hugged him back as she matter-of-factly informed him, "That mean guy thinks you cry too much."

Bakura tried not to laugh as he answered, "He does? Yeah, I guess he would."

"Oh yeah, and that glaring guy also said…I can only stay half an hour…" Amane remembered quietly, saddened.

"Half an hour…" Bakura muttered quietly. "Wh-what would happen if you stayed longer?"

She looked at him sadly, "The gate would shut permanently, and I'd become a lost soul."

_Lost soul…? I can't let that happen. I'm not that selfish._

He glanced over at the clock. "So, until midnight, then…"

She nodded, then said, slightly amused, "You know that mean guy? He's just as silly as you can be sometimes, Ryou. He was trying to tell me not to talk to you, but I told him he's stupid, I'm going to talk to you if I want to, bugger all his stupid wants!"

"Amane…Mom always says—"

"Yes, I know, I'm not supposed to use that word, but I mean it! He just didn't want us talking because of some weird thing about a wish, and magic, and all this strange stuff. I didn't understand him at all. He seemed to think us talking was bad for you, or something. But how can it be bad?"

Bakura smiled at her and assured her, "It's not, Amane. He just dislikes giving anybody anything, and when he has to, he makes sure it's as little as possible." He felt odd talking about the Spirit so casually like that, as if he knew the Spirit personally. Also, he did not want Amane asking any awkward questions. He switched the topic, "Oh, Amane…I…" He stood. "I wrote you letters…"

Amane grabbed his hand before he could get to his desk, saying, "I know. I got them all. Don't you remember what I said? If you say something, or write something, we know of it, and we hear what you say." She tugged on his arm. He sat back down beside her. She apologized, "I would've written you back, Ryou, but it's not allowed." Her face brightened and she hugged him again, "I'm so glad I can finally talk to you, big brother."

"So'm I, Amane," he answered, hugging her tightly. He shut his eyes as he swallowed, fighting the urge to cry again. "I missed you so much."

"I know. I missed being with you, too."


	3. Chapter 3

a Light from Beyond:

Phantom Laughter, a Brush of Wings

There were only a few minutes before midnight.

Bakura glanced at the clock and sighed. Soon, he would be alone again.

Amane saw his gaze fixed on the clock; she reached up a hand, touched his face. He looked down at her.

"Don't be sad, Ryou. You're not alone." She smiled at him. "I'll always be with you, even when you can't see me. Like…like a guardian angel. I'll be there for you. Always."

Bakura smiled back at her, tears coming unbidden and unwanted into his eyes. He hugged her to him tightly, never wanting to have to let go, never wanting to say goodbye.

"Thank you, Amane," he whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too, Ryou," she answered, clinging to him. She whispered reluctantly, "Goodbye."

He swallowed, and finally said it, "Goodbye."

\\\

The Spirit looked on as his host hugged his sister farewell. It was eleven fifty-nine. The siblings had not moved for at least three minutes, having already said goodbye, and not willing to actually let go. He was tapping his foot impatiently, his arms crossed.

"C'mon, c'mon. This won't last forever. Time's almost up."

He glanced again at his host, seeing the tears streaking Bakura's face, the tight hold of his arms, and the happy, yet sad look on his face. The Spirit sensed the turmoil in his mind: joy for the time he had been given, tinged and clouded with sorrow that it was over; a fear of being alone again.

His glare faded, and his look softened to one of almost fondness, an empathetic, knowing look. _Robbed early of family, the forgotten orphan always finds strength in the memories that remain._

He whispered, "Happy birthday, Ryou."

\\\

Amane never moved, she just disappeared.

Bakura sighed, and lay back down slowly, wondering if it was all just some cruel illusion the Spirit had created for his amusement. As Bakura settled his head on the pillow, he felt the slight crush of soft petals. He sat up and carefully felt his head, feeling intertwining stems and leaves.

"Amane," he whispered. He smiled. Standing, he went over to his desk and carefully removed the flowers from his head. He gently placed the crown on his desk, arranging it to encircle the picture of his sister.

He went back to his bed and covered up; he whispered to the darkness, "Good night, Amane." He fell into a peaceful sleep.

\\\

Bakura woke and stretched at the buzz of his alarm. The memory of the paper waiting for him ensured he got up immediately and hurried through getting dressed and ready for school.

Sitting down at his desk to finally work, Bakura picked up his pen and reread through the paragraph he had written the previous night. He frowned. The paragraph sounded terrible and stilted. With a sigh, he set that sheet aside and pulled out a new, clean sheet.

His gaze strayed over to the wooden frame sitting on his desk. He looked into the bright eyes of Amane, and he smiled back at her. Purple and white flowers lay in a circle around the frame, still looking fresh, a ward against the darkness. Smiling still, Bakura returned to his paper, scrawling words quickly, riding on the wave of sudden inspiration.

The paper was finished after only twenty minutes of straight writing. Bakura looked at the clock; he still had time before he had to head to school. He placed his paper within his folder and stowed it into his bag. That done, Bakura stood, left his bedroom, and dropped off his bag by the door for when he would leave.

Exiting his apartment, he made his way downstairs to buy a paper.

On his return to his apartment, he went immediately to his chair and starting scanning the headlines.

"Something good must've happened today," he told himself. His eyes were drawn to one particular heading almost immediately, "Girl and Dog Rescued from Fiery Death." He sat for a moment, scanning the other headlines, then returned to the cover story. "At least it has potential…they were saved, after all."

He finished the article with a smile on his face.

He glanced at the clock and stood; it was time to leave. Locking the door behind him, Bakura left his apartment and began his walk to school, the wind whipping his clothes and hair wildly.

\\\

About halfway to school, Bakura tripped over an upraised piece of concrete and sprawled painfully across the sidewalk.

Grumbling to himself about his own clumsiness, Bakura picked himself up. Papers flew past him, carried by the wind. Bakura reached down to retrieve his backpack, suddenly noticing that he had forgotten to shut it, and his folder had fallen out.

Crouching beside his bag, he stuffed his folder back into his backpack, realizing with shock that the papers that had flown so swiftly by him were his assignments.

With a groan over his own forgetfulness and bad luck, Bakura got up and quickly headed down the sidewalk, following the wind, grabbing at paper as he went.

\\\

"Oh, dear," Bakura said under his breath, staring up the tree in front of him. Perched on a branch high above his head and still fluttering in the wind was the last assignment Bakura needed to retrieve. It was the first page of his paper that was due today. "Maybe I should just call it late and rewrite it tonight…"

Bakura sighed. The paper was a large part of his grade…and, as he suddenly recalled, his teacher did not accept late assignments. He continued to stare at the paper, biting his lip.

Setting down his bag, he slowly pulled himself up onto the lowest branch. His hands shook slightly.

Years ago, when he had still lived with his family, Amane had loved to climb trees. Of course, once she got up so high, the parents wanted her to come down. Since it was reasoned that the adults would break the branches and cause both child and parent to fall, it was always Bakura who had been sent up to 'rescue' her. Him, the only one in the entire family who as afraid of heights. Amane had always ended up helping him down.

Swallowing loudly, Bakura forced his hands steady as he continued up the tree. He was about halfway to the paper, and the wind was picking up. As he felt the tree swaying, he prayed it could handle both him and the wind.

Continuing to inch his way upward, Bakura held tightly to the rough bark and avoiding small branches.

His foot slipping against the bark, Bakura grabbed frantically at the closest branch and held on tight. He hung there, swinging from a branch, his feet unable to find purchase in the near-vertical trunk.

"Oh…" Bakura moaned, noticing the seemingly far drop to the ground. He shut his eyes tightly and clung to the branch with all his might.

An old memory surfaced of when he had been sent up to retrieve Amane from a tree in their yard. He had slid down part of the tree and had clung to the trunk desperately, shutting his eyes to rid himself of the dizzying view of the ground. Amane had calmly climbed down to him.

"_Open your eyes, silly. You can't expect to climb down blind."_

Bakura forced his eyes open, took in a deep breath, and took in the situation.

"_You have to stay calm. Everything will be fine as long as you don't panic."_

Resisting the urge to look down again, Bakura carefully began sliding his hands over the branch, inching towards the trunk.

"_If you're scared, Ryou, just take my hand."_

They had made it down the tree together.

Bakura gritted his teeth and reached out his arm to grasp the trunk. He released the branch, wrapping his other arm tightly around the trunk.

He glanced down, looking for the closest branch. It was a few feet below his feet. Bakura took in a deep breath.

Amane had laughed in her delighted, childish way, _"Relax, Ryou. This is the fun part."_

"Fun," Bakura whispered, his mind still in memories. "Yeah, right." He loosened his grip slightly, allowing himself to slide down the trunk until his feet met the next branch. As he slid, it was as if he could feel Amane's small hand over his, trying to comfort him. But that was just his memory playing tricks on him.

Hastily, Bakura finished his decent to the ground, sighing with relief once his feet were on solid ground. He threw one last glance at his paper on the branch, flapping slightly in the wind, as if it waved to him, then he bent to pick up his bag.

A sudden gust of wind battered into him, and then all wind died just as quickly. His assignment, freed by the strong gust, fluttered lazily to his feet and waited to be picked up. Bakura quickly snatched it and shoved it into his backpack; the wind picked back up after he shut his bag.

From within the gusting wind, it seemed to Bakura that someone was laughing. In his mind, the memory finished replaying itself.

They had reached the ground, with only a few scratches; Amane smiled at him, her face lit up as she exclaimed, _"That was fun! Let's do it again sometime, okay, Ryou?"_

Bakura headed towards the sidewalk to hurry to school. He glanced back only once; looking up into the branches of the tree and beyond.

_Like…like a guardian angel. I'll be there for you. Always._

He whispered to the giggling wind, "Thanks, Amane."

\\\

After a long, but normal, day of school, Bakura relaxed in his apartment, letting his mind wander; he had finished his homework and eaten dinner an hour ago. Yawning and stretching, he left his chair to get ready for bed.

\\\

As he pulled back the covers and lay down, Bakura looked back out into the darkness of his room. It was as if someone was there, but he could see nothing. Pulling the covers close around him, he sighed as he thought over the day.

_I'll always be with you, even when you can't see me._

He whispered into the darkness as he drifted into sleep, "Good night, Amane."


End file.
